Great expectations: Rethinking the student
experience of final year undergraduate
projects and dissertations
Mick Healey
HE Consultant and Researcher
and
Laura Lannin
Research Assistant
University of Gloucestershire, UK
“new models of curriculum … should
all … incorporate research-based
study for undergraduates”
(Ramsden, 2008: 10-11)
Brief biography: Mick
• HE Consultant and Researcher and Emeritus Professor University of Gloucestershire, UK
• Economic geographer and Director Centre for Active Learning
• Director HE Academy projects on ‘Undergraduate research’ and ‘Rethinking final year
projects and dissertation’
• Ex-VP for Europe International Society for Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
• National Teaching Fellow and Senior Fellow HE Academy
• Advisor to Canadian Federal Government ‘Roundtable on Research, Teaching and
Learning in post-Secondary Education’ (2006)
• Advisor to National Academy for Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning
(Ireland) (2007-11)
• Advisor to Australian Learning and Teaching Council Projects on the ‘Teaching-research nexus’
(2006-08), ‘Undergraduate research’ (2009-10), and ‘Teaching research’ (2011-13 )
• Advisor to League of European Research Universities on research-based teaching (2009)
• Honorary Professor University of Queensland; Adjunct Professor Macquarie University;
Visiting Professor Edinburgh Napier and University of Wales Newport; International
Teaching Fellow University College Cork; HE Academy Associate
• Research interests: scholarship of teaching; linking research and teaching; active
learning; developing an inclusive curriculum for disabled students
Brief biography: Laura
• Research Assistant: Rethinking Final Year Projects and
Dissertations: Creative Honours and Capstone Projects
• Research Assistant: Community Flood Archive
Enhancement through Storytelling
• Postgraduate Researcher at the Centre for Active
Learning, University of Gloucestershire CeTL
• Qualified Teacher of History (key stages three, four and
five)
• Masters by Research, Staff and student conceptions of
citizenship education: a case study of the University of
Gloucestershire (2010)
• Research interests: teaching and learning, active
learning, citizenship education and society
Rethinking the dissertation
Our argument is that a more
flexible approach is needed in
the form, function and
assessment of final year
projects and dissertations to
meet the needs of all students
Rethinking the dissertation
Work in progress
NTFS funded two year project based at
University of Gloucestershire
Rethinking Final Year Projects and
Dissertations: Creative Honours and Capstone
Projects
Our working definition
“Projects, which are wider than the traditional honours
dissertation, that students undertake towards the end of
their undergraduate degree, usually in their final or senior
year, in which they engage in a significant amount of
independent research or inquiry.”
Capstone – term commonly used in North America and
Australasia to refer to integrative final year projects
Final year projects and dissertations
In US: The Boyer
Commission (1998, 27)
recommended that all
undergraduate programmes
should “Culminate with a
capstone experience. The
final semester should focus
on a major project and utilize
to the full the research and
communication skills learned
in the previous years.”
Final year projects and dissertations
In Australia: Holdsworth et al.
(2009) reported on
Developing Capstone
Experiences.
In Europe: The reshaping of
the length of the
undergraduate degree
through the Bologna process
has forced rethinking about
whether, how and when to
ensure a research emphasis.
Final year projects and dissertations
In Britain: The final year
dissertation, which has
traditionally been seen as
the gold standard for higher
education, is coming under
pressure for reform as
student participation rates
have increased, the numbers
studying professional
disciplines have grown, and
staff-student ratios have
deteriorated.
Final year projects and dissertations
Our project is about rethinking
the dissertation. We feel that
we can learn much from the
experience of running capstone
courses.
Our focus is on students
undertaking research in their
final year, but it is wider in its
conception, function, form,
location and how it is
disseminated and assessed
than the traditional dissertation.
Contrast with traditional honours dissertation
Wider in their:
• conception (e.g. collaborative projects as part of a research
group; consultancy projects);
• function (e.g. synthesising capstone projects; preparatory
projects for transition into a profession);
• form (e.g. student group projects);
• location (e.g. employer and community based projects);
and/or
• how they are disseminated and assessed (e.g. through
exhibitions, undergraduate research conferences and other
forms of public engagement)
Final year projects and dissertations
One minute each way
In pairs you each have ONE minute to tell the other
of an example or an experience you are familiar with
of innovative ways of engaging students in final
year projects and dissertations
Final year projects and dissertations
Alternative research-led
projects in Biosciences at
Durham
a) Laboratory-based project
b) Biology enterprise
c) Biology into schools
In Biosciences at Leeds
they have 7 alternatives
Final Year Undergraduate Dissertations
and Capstone Projects
MIT@Lawrence is a
university-community
partnership that
connects faculty,
students and staff at
MIT with communitybased organizations
and civic leaders in the
City of Lawrence,
Massachusetts.
Final year projects and dissertations
British
Conference on
Undergraduate
Research
UCLAN 2011
Warwick 2012
Plymouth 2013
Final year projects and dissertations
Draw on wide range of literature
• Linking research and teaching
• Undergraduate research and inquiry
• Employment and community based projects
• Capstone projects and integrative learning
• Independent, creative and transformational
learning
• Equity and widening participation issues
• Graduate attributes and standards
• Assessment of individual and group
projects
• Disseminating and celebrating
undergraduate work
Final year projects and dissertations
Alternative or additional projects, some of which may
be employment or community-based, are required to
meet the needs of all students regardless of
background, discipline or life goals.
Final Year projects and dissertations
Research question:
‘How can final year
undergraduate
projects and capstone
projects be designed
and assessed to help
students prepare for an
uncertain world?’
Final Year projects and dissertations
Case studies
• Arts, Design, Media and
Humanities
• Business, Hospitality, Law,
Sport and Tourism
• Interdisciplinary
• Education, Social and
Environmental Sciences
• Science, Technology,
Engineering and
Mathematics
Final year projects and dissertations
In groups of 3-4s each of you should look at least one
different mini-case study (pp 7- 41) and identify
interesting practices which you then share with
others in your group.
Be ready to report
back on ONE
interesting idea from
your group
Time: 10 minutes
Dimensions of final year projects and
dissertations
Additional to honours project
Campus based
Undertaken at the University
Research preparation
Student learning centred
Discipline based
Student initiated
Individual
Original to the student
University audience
In-depth analysis
Assessed by academics
Individual supervision
Alternative to honours project
Employer / community based
Distance learning
Professional / employment preparation
Outcome product centred
Multi- or interdisciplinary
Teacher / supervisor initiated
Group
Original to the discipline
Professional / public audience
Synthesis of knowledge/skills
Assessed by peers / professionals
Group / peer supervisions
Final year projects and dissertations
We value highly the traditional
dissertation as a potentially
transformational experience, but
we feel one size does not fit all.
Argue need for greater choice in
the form the dissertation may
take, the nature of the end
product, and the ways in which
it is assessed.
Additional or alternative
experience?
“I cannot think of anything more unfair than … to treat all students as if they
are the same, when they so manifestly are not” (Elton 2000: 1).
Learning outcomes for final year
dissertations and projects
Though we argue that there should be a variety in the
conception, function, form, and location of final year
projects and dissertations and how they are
disseminated, all should deliver a similar set of learning
outcomes.
In small groups discuss whether you agree with the ten
key characteristics of dissertations on pp 2-3 and
whether there are any missing.
Some additional shapes and forms for dissertations are
shown on pp 3- 4.
Student experiences of the dissertation
We asked some
broadcast journalism
students what they
thought about
traditional dissertations
and whether some 'rethinking' was needed.
Student experiences of the dissertation
http://insight.glos.ac.uk/tli/activities/ntf/creativehops/studentvoice/
Pages/UniversityofGloucestershire.aspx
Final year projects and dissertations
An invitation to participate and send us a
case study (see pp 39-40)
Source: UCLAN 2010
Final year projects and dissertations
Let’s be creative
and go beyond
the traditional
dissertation and
capstone project